Who's smarter...your toddler or your dog?

The following story is from today's "Vitals" in the Calgary Herald.....compiled by Lisa Kadane, Calgary Herald.


Who's Smarter -- Your Toddler Or Your Dog?

Pets - Psychologist and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia recently spoke at The American Psychological Association's annual convention. The subject of his talk? How Dogs Think.

According to Coren, dogs are as smart as two-year-old children, can understand more than 150 words, and can count up to four or five. But with brains comes manipulative behaviour (something any toddler has figured out). Dogs are "consciously deceptive" and trick people into giving them what they want. "And they are nearly as successful in deceiving humans as humans are in deceiving dogs," Coren said. Coren studied data from 208 dog-obedience judges in the United States and Canada to determine the differences in working and obedience intelligence across different dog breeds. Here are the results of which dogs are smartest.

1. Border collies

2. Poodles

3. German shepherds

4. Golden retrievers

5. Dobermans

6. Shetland sheepdogs

7. Labrador retrievers

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Glee headed to the White House...

I’m missing my weekly dose of Glee, so any little bit of Glee news I can get, I devour!

According to Entertainment Weekly, First Lady Michelle Obama has invited the stars of Glee to perform at the White House for the annual White House Easter egg roll on April 5th!

Apparently, Michelle Obama and her two daughters Malia (age 11) and Sasha (age 8) are all “Gleeks”! The producers of Glee promptly rearranged their production schedule so that they could make their White House performance.

Glee returns with a new episode on April 13th. Can’t wait!!

If You're Happy Then THEY Know It!

According to two University of Vermont mathematicians, Twitter CAN gauge the mood of millions of people around the world. Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth have built a program, that plows through nearly 1,000 tweets a minute....identifying commonly used words amongst the thousands of tweets.

Some of the findings? A couple of the happiest days on record (so far) are Christmas Day and New Years Eve. The saddest....was the day Michael Jackson died, June 25, 2009.
Believe it or not, Mondays often come out as the second happiest day of the week (people are still thinking about their awesome weekend)....while Wednesdays often turn up as the saddest day of the week.

Happy Tweeting!

Erin

Ending Fat Talk……One Anonymous Post-It at a Time!

This is part of the mission of anonymous do-gooders of Operation Beautiful. Their mission is to post anonymous notes in public places for other people to find. Notes like, “Yes you ARE beautiful!” Expect to find these notes anywhere….on a public bathroom mirror, in a clothing-store change stall or on the parking meter. Upon checking their website, I found that most people leave their anonymous positive posts on public bathroom mirrors (school, gym, restaurant, etc.) The Operation Beautiful web address is almost always left at the bottom of the note. On their website (www.operationbeautiful.com), you can find samplings of notes left behind, along with stories on how people left their words of encouragement. Check out the recent posting below!!


Laura wrote:
Instead of sleeping, or studying for my three final exams that are tomorrow, I decided to write out a “You Are Beautiful” post-it note for everyone who lives on my floor and stick it to their doors for them to find in the morning. I plan to put one on every door in my building. I am a firm believer that health comes first, and beauty follows. I believe it’s possible to think yourself beautiful. That’s why we have to remind people, every day, just how gorgeous/amazing/wonderful/beautiful/good-looking/ marvelous/handsome/attractive/awesome they actually are.”


So as I write this heading into 2010, I think this will be one of the many resolutions I will make and actually follow through with. I will write a note on a Post-It and leave it somewhere in Calgary. Pretty simple (I know), but maybe the person who finds it will be having a really crappy day, and that little note of inspiration will turn their day around. Maybe you can do the same?!

Happy New Year…..and remember, beauty is NOT a size.

GaGa for "Glee"

I've got Glee on the brain after watching another great episode last night and then waking up to a Glee article in today's paper. I also just got off the phone with a media friend who recently interviewed Canadian born Cory Monteith who plays Finn on Glee. What juicy little tid-bit did he get to learn about "Finn"?. Cory misses ketchup chips!! Ha! I guess they don't sell ketchup chips in U-S where Cory now lives. Poor guy.

If you missed the Glee article.....here it is. Enjoy, cuz if you're anything like me, you can't get enough of Glee!!!

http://tinyurl.com/yhrmnb7

Taking a PERFECT Driver's License Pic......

My girlfriends and I were laughing a couple of nights ago about our terrible driver's license pictures. Oh, and it's not just bad D-L pics!! My Costco pic is uber awful...my husband's is awful too. In fact, whenever I need a really good laugh I dig his out....look and laugh. (His is worse than mine).
Anyway, in the quest for a better pic I dug up some tips on how to put your best face forward for the dreaded driver's license mug shot.

*Wear more makeup than usual to avoid looking washed out. And don't forget the powder....that'll avoid shine on your pretty face.

*Set your feet hip-width apart and then place your palms up on your backside and drop your shoulders.

*Tilt your chin down (only a bit). If your nose is long, face the camera head on.

*Because most faces are asymmetrical, angle your head with your smaller eye out in front.


Simple tricks to a prettier you.
Now if we could only use these tips for our passport pics!!

Erin

Have you "Done It"?!

The list could be endless...eating blowfish in San Fran, checking out the Windsor Castle in Berkshire England or experiencing the Sydney Opera House in Australia. It’s what you’ve done and what you’ve yet to do. Jen Leo of the L-A Times recently wrote about a cool new website called diddit.com.

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-webbuzz6-2009sep06


“Diddit” is a place to discover new things to do, keep track of what you want to do and share stories about your life experiences (your "diddits")! The website allows for any experience to be chronicled. So for instance, one of my “diddits” would be, “landed at the bottom of the Grand Canyon in a helicopter”. And a wanna-do-it??...”eat olives and drink wine at a little cafe in Greece”!

Have fun “doing”-I know I will!!

Erin